Eyes the Imagine: Gaiden
by Captain redryuranger11
Summary: AU/Original. Imagine it, a world where the game Vanguard has became a global sensation. Pros battle it out to see who is the top. However that is not our story. This is the side story, of what happened before that story begins. As it seems, dark unnatural forces seem to be around, and it could forever change the game.


**I do not own Cardfight Vanguard. Pretty sure Bushiroad owns that.**

**This is a side story to my other Cardfight Vanguard fic. That is all.**

**Also for all intents an purposes, unless stated otherwise, expect everyone in this fanfic to be speaking Japanese.**

* * *

Imagine it, a world where a simple game has become such a big part of life that it is played on a daily basis.

"Maximum Juggernaut attacks!" What appeared to be a ferocious purple American football player charged at a dragon with paper talismans wrapped around its mouth.

The football player rammed into the talisman wrapped dragon, however, the man behind the talisman wrapped dragon didn't flinch, but instead only grinned maniacally.

"My Hunger Hell Dragon won't be defeated that easily." The man with the dragon said chuckling at how pitiful his opponent was.

The football player which appears to be named Maximum Juggernaut jumped back into the spot in front of the man using Maximum Juggernaut. The man coldly said, "Turn End," after he could not defeat the dragon.

Then the dragon user placed his hand over a deck of cards, "Since you didn't end me, looks like . . . it's time to end you!" The dragon user drew the top card of the deck of cards.

This game is called . . .

"I now ride my-"

Cardfight . . .

"-VANGUARD!" The dragon user held up a card, "Blazing in its burning hell, the burning Seal Dragon appears. I ride BLOCKADE!" The man slammed the card he was holding on top of a card that depicted the dragon with talismans around its mouth.

The talisman wrapped dragon then burst into flames and out appeared a much more larger dragon. Paper talismans flew all over the area as it signaled the appearance of a hellish dragon.

The man with Maximum Juggernaut, who before had a cold emotionless face, started to quiver in fear at the sight of the hellish dragon.

"Vanish before me, turn to ash in the wind. You die NOW!" The dragon user snapped his fingers and in an instant, he got the other man to scream in terror. "_Welcome to hell._"

This is the story of a card game that creates the bonds to keeps people together. This is the story where this card game has overtaken life to the point that there are professional card players. This is the story of a man and his quest to make sure these professionals have fun.

Or rather, this is a different tale to that story.

This is the story of what happened before the beginning of that tale. This is the side story of what happened before that tale got to begin. This is the tale, separate from reality . . . where danger lurks in the dark. Evil, unnatural dangers.

* * *

In this world, life is different than what is considered the norm. Here in this world, the game of Vanguard has overtaken life to the point that official tournaments are held constantly. Professionals and amateurs compete constantly for valuable prizes and recognition.

As of this moment, a very important tournament that would determine the King of Vanguard is being held and is near its end. What is supposed to be a joyous moment to determine the person who would represent all of Vanguard however begins with tragedy.

"_GYAHHHHHH!_"

"_Nii-san _(Big Brother)_, Nii-san . . . NII-SAN!_"

What was supposed to be the joyous end to an important tournament, instead ended with a man being rushed to the emergency room after falling into a coma.

The comatose man, with hair shaped like a small flame, and a build of that of an average 22 year old, would be the hero of his tale. This is not his tale though.

The medical staff rushed the stretcher that the man was on into the hospital. The man fell into a coma all of a sudden after playing a card game in the final round of the tournament. The cause is unknown . . . to the doctors.

The reason the man fell into a coma was because of his opponent, a man with a similar body build, but instead of hair shaped like that of a small flame, his hair was messily spiky. His eyes were covered with sunglasses, for a reason.

The comatose man was inside a room all by himself. The bed that he was in had his name labeled at the edge, 'Ryu Hino.'

The sunglasses wearing man stood by Ryu Hino's side. The sunglasses wearing man took off his sunglasses, revealing unnatural purple eyes. It wasn't readily noticeable but with the glasses off, it was obvious that this man was in fact related to Ryu Hino.

The truth of the matter is the purple eyed man is named Ryou Hino and is Ryu Hino's identical twin brother.

"I'm sorry Nii-san." Ryou said softly while tears flowed down his unnatural looking purple eyes. It was the eyes that caused Ryu Hino to fall into a coma. Ryou looked on in regret when he saw Ryu on life support. All the contraptions strapped onto Ryu and the state Ryu was in. Ryu looked like a mess. Ryou sat down on a chair next to where his brother laid. Ryou covered his eyes and groaned, "What is Yume going to think . . . her favorite brother, stuck in a coma because of her other brother . . . She's really going to hate me."

While the two men in the room are twin brothers, the two have a younger sister named Yume. At this point in time, Yume is not in the country where the two brothers reside in. Instead she is on the other side of the globe.

Yume Hino is an idol. She is part of the popular group known as Queens Za Four, which is Q4 for short. In that group there are four members, each of them good friends with Yume.

During the time when Ryou and Ryu Hino had their battle that caused Ryu to fall in a coma, Yume was performing on the other side of the globe, in America.

What was supposed to be a joyous event for fans for their idol group coming to their Anime Conventions, quickly turned into a horrifying sight for Yume.

The battle that would determine the King of Vanguard of the whole world was held in Japan and at the time when Yume was in America, the fight between Ryou and Ryu was broadcasted live.

Yume saw her elder brother Ryu fall after the end of the fight, and now she's quickly rushing back home to see Ryu. And to do that she now awaits for the next plane home.

* * *

Yume Hino, a young woman of twenty, sat impatiently waiting for the next plane that would take her home. She kept tapping her foot in anticipation and kept looking at her watch to see what time it was. Since the sight of her brother dropping after a fight was so sudden, she was still in a pink frilly dress that she was wearing for a performance that got canceled after she had to leave.

"Ryu . . ." Yume whimpered and thought about her brother, "Please be ok . . ." Ryu and Yume were very close siblings so Yume couldn't stop worrying about the brother that she saw was in total pain and collapsed after playing a game.

Yume checked her watch once more and looked outside the windows where planes were flying in and out in the dark. "Why is it taking the plane so goddamn long?" Yume growled and impatiently tapped her watch as if it would make the watch faster. "People have places to go damn it!"

Yume, usually an angel to the public, is pretty rude mouthed in private. Of course at the moment Yume is just stressed out from not being on the plane back home so she can check up on her brother.

Yume took one big sigh since it's been way too long since she got into the airport, "I'm so bored." She whined and pouted since she had been sitting down for hours. She wanted to take the first plane home but unfortunately, the first plane that would've left for her destination was actually scheduled very late from when she first entered the airport. Yume had been stuck so long in the airport that she managed to eat both lunch and dinner at the airport's food court. "I'm so tired of waiting . . . I JUST WANT TO LEAVE! IYAH!" All the other people around started staring at Yume who was throwing a tantrum while speaking in another language that was not familiar to them. "I'm so going to die of boredom here!" Yume kept stomping her foot on the ground and then all of a sudden slipped off her seat, "whoop," and she fell on her face. "OW!" Yume started to cry a little, "The Hino X Chromosome strikes again . . ." The Hino family has a history of being clumsy. It is said that it is their X Chromosome that contains the genes to them being so clumsy. "Wait . . . I don't even believe in that superstition." Yume got back up, dusted her skirt, and sat back down like a proper lady . . . though she didn't seem to care that she wasn't covering what was under her skirt properly.

One minute later, a white suited man with messy red hair came walking by and sat next to Yume. At first the man didn't seem to notice a nearly napping Yume, but then the man took one glance at Yume and in English exclaimed, "**OH! I know you!**"

Yume's ears perked up when she heard those English words but didn't pay much attention since she herself didn't understand English.

"**You're Yume of Queens Za Four aren't you?**" The red haired man exclaimed in excitement. Yume was able to pick up her name in what the man said. "**I'm a huge fan!**"

Yume wasn't exactly fluent in English. Despite performing in America, she still needs a translator to be able to communicate with her English speaking fans. However since she was in a rush to get back home, that meant that there was no translator around to help Yume. Yume does know a little bit of English though from the English classes she had taken, "**I'm sorry . . . I don't understand you.**" Yume said with a smile. "**Will you please just die?**" However . . . Yume apparently missed one important English lesson.

The man looked surprised since he didn't think an Angel like Yume would ever ask such a thing . . . but then despite speaking in English the whole time, the man decided to speak with Yume in her native tongue, "Did you just ask me to die?"

Yume jumped a bit back in surprise when the man asked her. Not only because the man made her realized her mistake, but also the fact that the man could actually speak Japanese. Not exactly fluent though but he was understandable. "Sorry . . . I meant to ask you to leave me alone."

"I have no idea how you could have possibly mangled 'leave me alone' into 'die.'" The man said while sweat dropping. "Anyway, sorry to surprise you like that, I'm a huge fan of yours!" The man grabbed Yume's hand and shook it.

"Um . . . thanks?" Usually Yume was more than happy to be cheerful for a fan. But she has other things on her mind and she couldn't quite bring out the idol that her fans usually see at the moment.

"Oh also sorry for not introducing myself." The man bowed elegantly to Yume, "My name is Mark, and I think I'm in love with you."

"Are you sure you're not trying to say that you love my work?" Yume asked this time thinking that Mark mangled something in her language just like how she mangled something in Mark's language.

"No." Mark shook his head. "I really do mean that I'm in love with you." This took Yume by complete surprise. Mark examined Yume, then noted, "Though you sure are a lot less energetic than you are on stage."

"Well it's not like I'm going to energetic twenty four seven you know." Yume replied. "So sorry for being a disappointment."

Mark shook his head once more, "Quite the contrary, it adds this mysterious flair to your charms." Mark then inched closer to Yume, "In fact . . . it makes you that much more desirable."

Yume noticed Mark coming closer and she began to blush, "Um . . . you're way to close to me."

"I mean I would like to go out with you, you are after all quite out of this world if I must say." Mark said smoothly.

Yume's face became all red and then she exclaimed, "I'VE GOT SOMEONE THAT I LIKE ALREADY!" She yelped and pushed Mark away. Yume didn't realize how hard she pushed Mark and ended up pushing Mark all the way to a wall on the other side. "Huh?" Yume did not realize how strong she actually was.

By her goodwill, Yume went and helped Mark up and checked to make sure Mark wasn't hurt badly. Mark took it in stride and whistled, "I didn't realize you were really strong." Mark teased Yume, "For a dainty looking thing, you sure pack a punch."

"I don't know if I feel good hearing that." Yume said with a bit of frustration.

"Just one thing I don't understand." Mark noted, "If you have someone that you like, why are you still single?"

"Huh?"

"You're single." Mark said, "I've never heard of you having a lover before."

"Are you telling me that if the media doesn't report it then that means that it's not happening to me?" Yume asked while putting on an annoyed face. "Besides . . . I really am single. I said I have someone that I like, didn't say that I have a boyfriend or something."

"Ooh so I might have a chance." Mark whistled and Yume gave Mark an irritated look.

"I'm very picky with what kind of man I like." Yume said in annoyance.

"Oh?" Mark was intrigued, which was not what Yume wanted to happen. "Would you share what your ideal man is?"

Yume quickly blurted, "He needs to have hair shaped like a small flame, likes the color red, is a little perverted, and be a good cook." Yume then covered her mouth in embarrassment after realizing just who she had just described. Her description one hundred percent matched the description of her brother Ryu.

"Wow . . . those are some specific traits." Mark whistled and then grinned, "So if I can turn myself into that type of man, then you'll think about going out with me?"

Yume shook her head, "Forget I ever said anything!" Yume turned away since she was blushing in embarrassment, still thinking about how her perfect man was apparently her own brother.

"You sure are playing hard to get." Mark chuckled, "I like that."

"Leave me alone!" Yume yelped and then shifted a few seats away from Mark only to accidentally fall on her cute little butt when she ran out of seats to shift away. "OW!" Yume groaned and rubbed her butt, not caring that people were watching her.

"Oh you're so cute!" Mark squealed after seeing Yume looking cute despite being in pain.

Yume moaned and got back onto the last seat. Yume growled and kept rubbing where it hurt to make it feel better.

Mark watched Yume, then grinned ominously while Yume couldn't see him due to her not paying attention to anything else. "I can see that I won't be able to get to you so long as I hit on you." Mark said then reached into his suit's pocket, "Then how about you and I play a game?" At this point Mark took a different approach towards Yume. "You're a Vanguard player aren't you? How about a card fight?" Mark took out a black deck box.

The bored Yume instantly blurted, "YES!" And in a flash whipped out a pink deck box. Yume's sudden outburst completely took Mark by surprise, "I'll kick your ass!" Yume pointed at Mark rudely. "I'm so bored so hurry up and take out your deck!" Yume was already shuffling her deck.

Mark blinked his eyes in complete confusion since he didn't realize that Yume would be so energetic after him asking her to fight. "At least hold your horses. Why don't we use a motion figure system?"

"I HAVE NO TIME TO LOOK FOR ONE DAMN IT!" Yume screamed at Mark. "I'm waiting for my plane and I do not want to get out of the airport."

"I meant there is one in the airport." Mark said then pointed at a cylindrical table on the other side from where Yume and Mark were.

Yume looked over where Mark was pointing. "Huh . . . you would've thought I would've seen that a while ago." Then Yume started shoving Mark, "Come on, come on, I'm so bored!"

Mark yelped when Yume pushed him, "Who girly, I didn't realize you were this excited to do it."

"Screw your innuendos, just get on the other side of the table!" Yume kicked the man to the other side and she took out one card from her deck.

On the table was an image of the mat for the game of Vanguard. There were various circles around indicating the spots where the cards were to be played. Yume slammed the card she took out from her deck into the center circle. That circle would be the namesake of the game of Vanguard.

Mark took out one card from his deck and he too placed it on the opposing center circle, "My, my, you sure are excited." Mark could almost imagine Yume with dog ears and a wagging tail. "You look almost like my dog."

"DON'T CALL ME A DOG!" Yume yelled at Mark and Mark chuckled.

Both players drew five cards from the top of their decks. And then to begin the game, each player held the card they had both put into their respective center circles.

"Ready when you are honey." Mark winked at Yume, though Yume completely ignored Mark.

"STAND UP!" Yume was already announcing.

"Hey whoa! I'm not ready yet!" Mark yelped. "Stand up."

"THE!" Yume squealed.

"The?" Mark was completely surprised by Yume's unusual use of the word 'the' after 'Stand Up' since one wouldn't usually use that word. Of course, in the family that Yume comes from, the word 'the' is pretty much a quirk of theirs'.

"VANGUARD!" Yume announced and flipped over the card that she had placed down. Mark did the same for his card. "Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Shizuka (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000)!" So was the name of Yume's card.

"Seal Dragon, Terricross (Kagero, Grade 0, Power 5000)!" Mark announced.

When the two cards were flipped, the table activated and produced a holographic image of the battle around the two players. On Mark's side, was a piece of land next to the waters while the majority of the water was on Yume's side.

A black wearing mermaid appeared behind Yume and winked at Mark while a reddish dragon wearing paper talismans around it appeared behind Mark.

Yume looked at the unit that Mark had played and noticed an interesting thing about the card. She had never seen such a card before in her life but she recognized something about the card, "Hey . . . that's a Kagero." In this game, there are various types of decks. Each deck basically comprises of different clans. Yume is using the Bermuda Triangle clan, a clan full of mermaid idols and Mark so far has shown to be using a card of the Kagero clan, a clan full of fiery dragons.

"Oh so you recognize this unit?" Mark asked Yume.

"Never seen it before in my life." Yume answered bluntly and caused Mark to fall down after his excitement of having his card being recognized by Yume being shot down. "But my brother uses a Kagero deck and I just found it interesting that I've never seen that unit before." Yume then asked, "Why aren't you using Lizard Soldier, Conroe? Isn't he already useful enough?"

"That's because I don't need him." Mark replied, and then grinned really quick that Yume missed his grin, "And I can show you why." Mark said softly in an ominous voice. "I'll begin!" Mark drew the top card of his deck, allowing his hand to become six.

**Mark's Hand: 6**

"From my hand, I now ride Embodiment of Armor, Bahr (Kagero, Grade 1, Power 8000)!"

Mark slammed a card on top of Terricross. The dragon behind Mark roared and then in front of it, a suit of armor with a ghostly wearer appeared, "RAWR!" Bahr, so named the armor wearing ghost, roared at Yume.

Yume shirked a little when she saw Bahr, "Well that's Kagero all right . . . but this Bahr is . . . scary." Bahr is a unit that is usually seen in every Kagero deck. Bahr wasn't exactly nice looking in the first place but even then, there was something very sinister about the Bahr that Mark just played.

"Terricross's skill, because I rode a Kagero, Terricross moves to the rearguard!" The center circle is for the unit known as the Vanguard. There exists five circles surrounding the Vanguard and those are for the Rearguard. Mark took the Terricross unit under Bahr and shifted the unit into the circle behind Bahr. "That ends my turn."

**Mark's Ending Hand: 5, Field: 2, Damage: 0**

"My turn, DRAW!" Yume drew the top card of her deck.

**Yume's Hand: 6**

She then spun her card, "Here I go, ride!" Yume slammed her card on top of Shizuka, "Mermaid Idol, Felluca (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 7000)!"

A green vortex appeared in front of Shizuka and out appeared a green busty mermaid. Felluca blew a kiss when she appeared.

"Since Felluca is a Bermuda Triangle unit, I can now move Shizuka from the soul into the Rearguard." Yume grabbed Shizuka and moved Shizuka into the circle next to her deck. "And Felluca's skill activates." Yume tapped Felluca. "When she is ridden or called," placing a unit into the center circle is call a ride while placing a unit in the other circles is known as a call, "I can soul charge," under the Vanguard lies the soul. Any cards under the Vanguard is counted as the soul, "the top card of my deck." Yume swiped the top card, a card named Mermaid Idol, Elly (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 6000) of her deck into the soul under Felluca. "Call!" Yume placed down one more card from her hand, "Mermaid Idol, Felluca!" Yume placed down another Felluca.

A slightly different colored Felluca appeared behind the Vanguard Felluca.

"Same skill, soul charge!" Yume swiped a card named Drive Quartet, Flows (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000) from the top of her deck and swiped it under her Vanguard' soul. "Now, BATTLE!" Because Mark went first, Mark was not allowed to do battle. However . . . Yume can since she went second. "With a boost from Felluca, my Vanguard Felluca attacks your Vanguard for a total of 14000!" Yume turned the two Fellucas sideways.

When a unit behind is rested for battle, the unit in front will gain the power of the unit behind. Because both Fellucas had a power of 7000 each, the total becomes 14000.

"No guard!" Mark announced. When a unit is being attacked, the player can protect the units with the cards in their hand by playing them in the circle that connected the two sides together. However Mark just called a no guard which means that guardian circle will not be used.

"Drive check." Yume said. When a Vanguard attacks, the player is allowed the check the top card of their deck and add the card into their hand. If the card contains a special icon on the top, then a special skill is activated. Yume flipped over the top card of her deck when then glowed red. "I got a trigger, Drive Quartet, Bubblin (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000)!" The trigger that Yume just got was the red trigger, the Draw Trigger. There are four triggers, the blue Stand Trigger that allows a rearguard to be stood from rest, the green Heal Trigger that allows a player to heal damage, the yellow Critical Trigger that allows a unit to deal more than one damage, and the red Draw Trigger that allows a player to draw. Each trigger gives a power plus of 5000. "Power to my Vanguard, and I draw a card!"

The two Fellucas, the Vanguard one glowing red because she obtained a power boost from the trigger, jumped into the air and came down and slammed Bahr.

"Damage check." When an opposing player takes damage, they must do a similar check as the Drive Check. However instead of checking for a trigger to aid in battle, they are doing it to see if there is a trigger that can help in the Damage. Mark flipped over a yellow glowing card, "Seal Dragon, Piera, critical trigger. (Kagero, Grade 0, Power 5000)" Mark sent the card to damage. "I give power to my Vanguard." Bahr glowed yellow after gaining power from the trigger. However, because the Critical only applies when an attack hits, the extra Critical that Bahr has does not matter especially when trigger effects only last for one turn.

"That is the last of my attacks so I end." Yume said.

**Yume's Ending Hand: 6, Field: 3, Damage: 0  
Mark's Hand: 5, Field: 2, Damage: 1**

Mark looked at his one damage. If a player is to ever reach six cards into the damage zone, the player loses and the game ends. Then Mark drew the top card of his deck.

**Mark's Hand: 6**

"From my hand, I now ride Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon (Kagero, Grade 2, Power 10000)!" Mark rode his card.

Bahr roared and transformed into a dragon with paper talismans wrapped around its mouth.

Yume looked at Hunger Hell Dragon, and she realized that just like Terricross, she had never seen such a unit before. "Seal Dragon . . . why does that sound so familiar?" Yume asked herself.

"I now call, Seal Dragon Shakado (Kagero, Grade 2, Power 9000)!" Mark played down a unit in the right circle next to the Vanguard. Mark rested Shakado, "I attack your Vanguard!" Then Mark tapped Shakado, "Shakado has a power of 9000. If you were thinking that you can use that Draw Trigger to guard me, you have another thing coming." Shields are calculated in intervals of 5000. Most cards with shield values have a shield value of 5000 but certain cards have 10000 or even the special 0 shield. The Draw Trigger that Yume got beforehand would've usually helped given Felluca enough shields to guard against a 9000 attack since shields are calculated into the total power of a unit. The shield would be 12000 but . . . "Since my Vanguard has Seal Dragon in its name, Shakado gets a power plus 3000, so the total power is 12000!" That equals the exact number that a 5000 shield would've produced for Felluca.

"No guard." Yume said calmly and sent the top card of her deck, Top Idol, Aqua (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 2, Power 10000) to the damage zone.

"With a boost from Terricross, Hunger Hell attacks your Vanguard for a total power of 15000!"

"No guard." Yume said calmly.

"Drive check." Mark flipped over the top card of his deck, "Seal Dragon Chambray (Kagero, Grade 1, Power 4000). No trigger."

Yume looked at the card that Mark revealed and noticed that it resembled a Vanguard unit that she saw before. Now the term Seal Dragon really did seem familiar to her. Yume sent the top card of her deck, another Top Idol, Aqua, to the Damage Zone.

"Turn end." Mark ended his turn.

**Mark's Ending Hand: 5, Field: 3, Damage: 1  
Yume's Hand: 6, Field: 3, Damage: 2**

Back to Yume, Yume now drew the top card of her deck after standing her units.

**Yume's Hand: 7**

"I ride, Pearl Sisters, Perla (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 2, Power 9000)!" Felluca transformed into an elegant mermaid decorated with pearls all over. Perla winked at Mark. "Call Pearl Sisters, Perle (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 7000)." Yume placed down a similar looking unit to Perla down on the unoccupied circle in the back. The similar looking mermaid appeared. "Perle's skill, I select one Perla and Perla obtains a new skill. Now if she hits your Vanguard this turn, I am allowed to soul charge and draw."

"Neat." Mark nodded.

Then Yume called another card from her hand, "Call, Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 5000)!" Yume played the unit in front of Shizuka.

"Wha?" Mark noticed the unit had similar statistics to Shizuka in being a Grade 0. "Why do you have both of those units in your deck?" The units Weddell and Shizuka were units made to be played as the starting unit that the player plays down first. It is odd that Yume would actually have both cards in her deck since most people wouldn't run any unnecessary Grade 0s due to deck balancing.

Yume giggled and playfully stuck out her tongue, "They were both so cute I couldn't figure out which one to use, so I decided to use both."

Mark was taken aback by that response. "Huh . . . THAT'S SO CUTE!" Mark squealed in delight but Yume shirked in nervousness seeing Mark act so excited.

Yume couldn't help but feel irritated but then decided to give a cute face as usual, "Anyway, I now activate Weddell's skill." Yume shifted Weddell into the soul under Perla. Weddell disappeared from the field, "I can return one Bermuda Triangle unit back to my hand." Yume took Perle and took the card into her hand. "I've returned Perle, and now I'll call her again!" Perle reappeared in the same spot that she was at before.

"What's the point of doing that?" Mark asked Yume.

"Did you forget?" Yume asked and then pointed at Perla, "Because I called Perle again, I can give Perla another instance of that skill I gave her from Perle.

"Ooh . . . It can stack huh?" Mark nodded, "Interesting."

"Call, Mermaid Idol, Flute (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 2, Power 8000), times two!" Yume played down two Mermaid Idol, Flutes from her hand.

Both units, one of them with a slightly different color from how the card had the unit depicted, appeared in the front row next to Perla.

"BATTLE!" Yume announced and then rested the recolored Flute and Shizuka. "With a boost from Shizuka, Flute attacks your Shakado!" Yume announced Flute's skill, "Since I have four or more Bermuda Triangle Rearguards, Flute gains a power plus 3000!" The total power was 15000.

"I can't guard Shakado." Mark declared. Flute pointed her wand at Shakado and fired a heart beam at Shakado, destroying Shakado.

"With a boost from Felluca, Perla attacks your Vanguard!"

Letting this Perla hit was going to be bad, but Mark couldn't afford to guard against Perla, "No Guard."

"Drive check." Yume flipped over the top yellow glowing card of her deck, "Drive Quartet, Shuplu (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000), Critical Trigger!" Yume announced. "I give the power plus 5000 to my other Flute and the extra Critical to my Vanguard!"

Perla jumped in the air and smashed Hunger Hell with her fin.

Mark sent two cards into the Damage Zone, one of them being a card named Seal Dragon, Calze (Kagero, Grade 1, Power 7000), and another named Seal Dragon, Artpitch (Kagero, Grade 0, Power 4000) which glowed red. "Draw Trigger, I draw and give a power plus to my Vanguard."

Yume nodded. "Since Perla hit, I can now activate her skill." Yume sent the top card of her deck (Mermaid Idol, Flute) to the soul, "I draw, and because I used Perle twice, I can do it again." Yume repeated the process sending a copy of Perle into the soul and drew again after soul charging. "With a boost from Perle, Flute attacks your Vanguard, total power 23000!" Yume rested her last column for an attack.

Mark again could not afford to guard even if he did give power to his Vanguard and drew a card from the draw trigger. "No Guard."

Flute blasted Hunger Hell and Mark took Seal Dragon, Linocross (Kagero, Grade 1, Power 6000) to damage. "Turn End." Yume ended her turn.

**Yume's Ending Hand: 5, Field: 6, Damage: 2  
Mark's Hand: 6, Field: 2, Damage: 4**

Mark began his turn, "Stand and Draw!" After standing his units, Mark drew.

**Mark's Hand: 7**

"Now . . ." Mark chuckled and then his facial expression contorted to the point that he looked insane. _Now to see just how strong you are!_ "Face the ultimate dragon, vanish before his might!" Mark held his card up high, "Ride, **Seal Dragon, BLOCKADE **(Kagero, Grade 3, Power 10000)!"

Hunger Hell Dragon roared to the sky. Flames erupted from the ground and engulfed Hunger Hell Dragon. In the flames, Hunger Hell Dragon started to transform into a hellish dragon wrapped all over by paper talismans. The fire vanished and there stood the new sealed dragon.

Yume was sure she recognized this unit. "I . . . know this one." Yume was astonished to see the unit, not by how intimidating the unit looked, but rather, "So that's what Seal Dragon meant!" Yume said in realization. "It's him!"

"So you know this one." Mark chuckled. Then snarled with a grin at Yume, "Are you scared?"

"Actually I'm surprised that Blockade even got support." Yume said bluntly causing Mark to drop. "Didn't think he would since he's so underused. My brother only used him like what . . . twice?"

"Well . . . these support cards haven't been released at where you're from yet so I understand why you would be surprised." Mark said then smirked, "But time to show you, just how terrifying the Seal Dragons are!" Mark then tapped Terricross, "I now S-counterblast!"

Yume didn't know what that term meant. "S-counterblast?"

"By counterblasting a Seal Dragon, I can activate Terricross's skill!" Mark announced and flipped over Artpitch from the damage zone. The cards in the damage zone can be used by the player by flipping them over to cast the skills of his units. An S-counterblast is a special type of counterblast that focuses whether the card has a certain word in the name of the card. "Terricross moves to the soul and I retire your Perle!"

Terricross disappeared into Blockade but then Blockade created a giant fireball. Blockade then threw the fireball, the fireball then taking the shape of Terricross, at Perle, incinerating Perle.

Mark chuckled but realized Yume wasn't fazed. "Are you . . . not worrying?"

Yume shrugged, "Actually I know how well Kageros work already." Yume said, "I know they retire a lot since my brother uses the clan, so a retirement really doesn't faze me."

Mark nodded, "That makes sense, but that's not the end of my skill." Mark pointed at Yume's deck, "From the top four cards of your deck, you can check to see if you have a Grade 2 to call!"

Yume was surprised by that development, "You're . . . letting my call a Grade 2 from my deck?"

"That's how the skill works." Mark nodded.

Yume checked the top four cards of her deck and in that stack, there was another copy of Pearl Sister, Perla. "I call Perla." Yume called Perla behind Flute where Perle had been retired. Yume wondered why Mark would let her call a Grade 2 unit. Grade 2 units can intercept into the Guardian circle to provide a 5000 shield to protect units, but . . . Blockade had a special skill so intercepting didn't matter in the long run. After thinking about how her calling a Grade 2 would benefit Mark, Yume remembered the skill. "OH!" Yume nodded, "I know what you're doing, you're doing all this because you're using Blockade so that way I won't be able to intercept with the units in front, thus you're ruining the layout of my field without trying.

"Wow you catch on fast." Mark said. "Yes that is true, since Blockade stops you from intercepting, giving you more Grade 2s, especially after I replaced your Grade 1, basically does not trouble me whatsoever." Mark smirked ominously. "Now, let's see how well you can get through this." He whispered. "I call Seal Dragon, Shakado, Seal Dragon, Spike Hell Dragon (Kagero, Grade 3, Power 10000), Bahr times two, and Seal Dragon, Chambray."

Shakado and a red dragon known as Spike Hell Dragon appeared next to Blockade each with Bahrs appearing behind them. Chambray, which looked similar to Blockade, appeared behind Blockade.

"You know this already but I might as well just announce it, Blockade's skill stops you from intercepting!" Mark announced, "VANISHING FIELD!"

Blockade roared and a heat wave flowed through the area, covering Yume's units in a red fog. Then all of a sudden when the heat wave disappeared Yume found all of her Grade 2 rearguards, her Flutes and Perla, wrapped up by paper talismans from Blockade.

"Since they're trapped, I can just ignore them!" Mark cackled, "Shakado with a boost from Bahr attacks your Vanguard! Total power 20000!"

"No guard." Yume said calmly and Yume sent Drive Quartet Ressac (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000) to the damage zone. "Stand Trigger activated." Yume said and pointed at Perla. "I give power to my Vanguard." Perla now had a total of 14000 to use as a defense.

Mark grunted when he saw the trigger and whistled, "Well that killed my plans." Mark was about to attack Yume with Spike Hell Dragon, but since Yume got the trigger and powered up her Vanguard, Mark decided that he should attack with his Vanguard next. "Blockade attacks with a boost from Chambray!"

"And I'm betting that Chambray has a soul blast skill." Yume said. Soul blasting uses the cards in the soul to activate skills. By sending a certain number of cards from the soul, certain skills can activate. "Let me guess, a power plus 6000 to your Blockade?'

Mark blinked his eyes in confusion, "How did you know that?"

"Well my brother uses a Dragonic Overlord deck." Yume said and pointed at Chambray, "There's a similar unit in my brother's deck that has the exact same stats as that unit, and plus that Chambray looks a bit too much like Blockade not to be related to Blockade."

"Well since you know, I soul blast," Mark took out Bahr from the soul and sent Bahr to the drop zone. "Blockade attacks your Vanguard for 20000!"

"No guard." Yume said calmly.

"Twin Drive!" Mark announced. Since Blockade was a Grade 3 unit, Blockade instead of getting one Drive Check, gets two. "First check." Mark got another copy of Spike Hell Dragon, "No trigger, second check." The second card was glowing red, "Artpitch, Draw Trigger!" Mark said and drew the top card of his deck, "Power plus to Spike Hell Dragon!"

Blockade roared and flames appeared around Blockade, then Blockade fired a large fireball at Perla, blasting Perla. Perla screamed when she got hit.

Yume sent a card (Mermaid Idol, Elly) to the damage zone. Her damage was at four now.

"Spike Hell Dragon with a boost from Bahr attacks your Vanguard!" Mark announced, "Spike Hell's skill, if he's boosted by a Kagero unit, he gains a power plus 2000! So the total power is 20000!"

"No Guard." Yume said and sent a fifth card (Pearl Sisters, Perla) to the damage zone.

**Mark's Ending Hand: 4, Field: 6, Damage: 4  
Yume's Hand: 5, Field: 6, Damage: 5**

Mark chuckled, "Well then, looks like you're still around." Then Mark grinned ominously, "But it's done, I've ruined your field." Yume had a strange field with one Grade 2 in the back. Usually the only cards that should be in the back are Grade 1 units, and Grade 2s would rarely ever be in the back.

"Not like I really care." Yume shrugged.

"Oh you should." Mark said softly then looked at one card in his hand. This card gave an evil aura . . . it was a card that depicted a fiery dragon burning what seemed to be hell. This card . . . it was related to Blockade no doubt . . . This was the card that Mark would ride next turn. _With him, I'll crush you._ Mark's maniacal smile didn't disappear, _I want to see . . . just how weak you look!_

Yume had five cards in her hand and five damage. Mark had four cards in his hand and four damage.

However Yume was completely unfazed and simply stood her units and drew.

**Yume's Hand: 6**

"Why are you not worrying?" Mark asked Yume, "I just completely ruined your field. How can you still remain calm?"

Yume stayed silent and then gave her own evil smirk. "That's because, I have this!" Yume held up a glowing card, "Take the stage and give everyone excitement!" Yume slammed the card into the Vanguard circle, "Ride the Vanguard, **Bermuda Princess, Lena! **(Bermuda Triangle, Grade 3, Power 10000)"

Perla closed her eyes and transformed into a pink mermaid, Lena. Lena cheered when she appeared and held out a hand and winked.

Mark looked at Lena and realized what kind of unit Lena was. "OH CRAP!"

"When Lena is ridden, I can return all Bermuda Triangle rearguards to my hand." Yume said, "So now I return my Flutes, Shizuka, Felluca, and that Perla you let me call back to my hand." Yume snatched the five cards and sent them to her hand.

"Wow . . . all my work . . . ruined." Mark said then chuckled, "This is so exciting, so you really are strong!"

"Huh?" Since when did Mark care about Yume being strong?

"Never mind that, just continue!" Mark said with a huge goofy smile.

"O . . . K?" Yume said. "I call Felluca behind my Vanguard, Flute to the front, Mermaid Idol, Sedna (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Poewr 8000) behind Flute, another Sedna to the back, and Top Idol, Pacifica (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 3, Power 10000)!"

Flute appeared next to Lena and Felluca behind Lena. Behind Flute and the other back row circle appeared two pink mermaids. Finally one last mermaid appeared in the last empty circle and she made a big entrance with her two penguins, one blue one pink, flying next to her.

"Now, time for the final assault!" Yume announced. "With a boost from Sedna, Pacifica attacks your Vanguard!"

"Guard." Mark threw down a card, Seal Dragon, Shading (Kagero, Grade 0, Power 5000), to guard. Shading had 10000 shield so Blockade could block Pacifica's 18000.

Yume gave a fake astonished face since she understood the reason Mark defended instead of taking the attack even though he could take at least one more hit.

"I'm not going to let you do that." Mark said with a grin, "If you hit with Pacifica, I'm going to be in some deep shit."

Pacifica had a skill that when she hits, she is allowed to call three units from the deck which if Yume does, allows Yume for more attacks. This however requires a counterblast of five cards and a soul blast of eight cards. Yume fits these conditions.

"You guarded that, but can you stop these attacks?" Yume rested Lena with Felluca behind. "Lena attacks your Blockade. Lena's skills activates. Because I have four or more Bermuda Triangle rearguards, she gains a power plus 3000, so she's attacking for 20000!"

Mark looked at his hand. He had the mysterious card, Artpitch, and Spike Hell Dragon. Spike Hell and the mysterious card had no shield values so he could not use the cards to guard and Artpitch only had a 5000 shield. Mark had Shakado as an intercept so he had a total of 10000 as shields. The problem is, 10000 plus Blockade only equates to 20000 which since it equals Lena's 20000, Blockade would still get hit. Mark couldn't defend. "No Guard!" The only way Mark could defend would be if Yume were to not pull a trigger.

"Twin drive!" Yume flipped over the first card which was a card named Mermaid Idol, Elly, then her last card which was Drive Quartet, Shuplu (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000), a yellow trigger, and thus a trigger that allows Yume to deal two damage, which is exactly the amount of damage that Yume needed to deal. "CRITICAL TRIGGER!" Yume exclaimed, "Critical to Lena and power to Flute!"

Lena sung a song that created heart beams that struck Blockade.

"Damn . . ." Mark grunted. If Mark can pull a Heal Trigger, Mark can stop himself from getting six damage, but that would require him to get it at the sixth damage. Mark sent two cards to the Damage Zone, one of them Seal Dragon, Flannel (Kagero, Grade 1, Power 7000), the other another copy of Blockade.

**Mark's Damage Six. Ending Result: Yume Wins**

Mark chuckled, "you won."

Lena and the Bermuda Triangle units cheered while Blockade and the Seal Dragons slowly faded into ash.

Yume took all her cards and placed them back into her pink deck box. "You're pretty strong." Yume said.

"Well at least you complimented me." Mark said with a smile.

"Course you can't beat my brother." Yume said bluntly, causing Mark to fall down again. "Get stronger and one day you might be able to at least deal some damage to him."

"Well . . . I guess this counts as a compliment." Mark said sweat dropping. Yume cackled and during her cackle in which she couldn't see Mark, Mark smiled ominously one again, _This one . . . this one is interesting._

What could Mark be planning?

Mark then tapped Yume and pointed back at the gate Yume was, "Isn't that your plane? It seems it's about to take off."

Yume turned around and realized that her plane was almost done boarding. "AW CRAP!" Yume shrieked but was then swept off her feet by Mark. "Huh?" She then found herself being carried bridal style by Mark.

"That's actually my plane too." Mark said with a wink, "So let's go together."

"Wait a minute . . . why are you carrying me?" Yume asked Mark.

"I can run fast." Mark replied but then got slapped by Yume.

"In the time you took to sweep me off my feet and spoke, I could've been on the plane already!" Yume shouted. Then she pouted, "Well hurry up and get going, you're wasting time!"

Mark looked at Yume, and then his eyes gleamed, "OH MY GOD! You really are cute!"

"GET GOING!" Yume shrieked and Mark was off.

Once on the plane though, Yume fell asleep when she got to her seat. "Damn . . ." Mark mumbled, "She sure fell asleep fast." Mark kept looking at Yume, and then smiled creepily. "You really are an interesting one Yume Hino." Mark cackled and then stroke the sleeping Yume's face, "You really are an interesting one. Thought you'd be a weakling but you've proven much stronger than I thought." Mark closed his eyes, then sharply opened them revealing unnatural red colored eyes, "I wonder, how strong are your brothers then?" Mark chuckled to himself, all while Yume kept calling for Ryu in her sleep and worrying about Ryu's safety.

This is the story of what happened before the beginning of a tale. This is a tale of danger that lurks in the dark.

While Yume flies in the air in a plane, Ryou is at the other side of the globe, going home after visiting hours in the hospital was over. As Ryou walked back to his home, someone was watching him . . . or something. Whatever was watching Ryou, Ryou also felt the presence and turned around to see if someone was watching him. Ryou saw no one, but he felt uneasy, "I have a bad feeling about this." Ryou said, and went inside.


End file.
